Keynote Address to the WestVAC and WestVPR Conference

Very pleased to be here and to meet research and academic leaders from Western Canada

Your sessions today and tomorrow are ones that interest me keenly

Unfortunately, due to previous commitment I have to leave early so will not have the opportunity to participate

Later today you will have a session on Indigeneity at Universities: Effect of the TRC (Truth & Reconciliation Commission)

One of the panel members is my good friend and colleague Linc Kessler, who will discuss his recent research on the different ways that universities acknowledge Indigenous lands, treaties and peoples. As Linc says, “Acknowledgements indicate respect for Indigenous communities and bring attention to an often ignored history.”

I’d like to briefly discuss UBC’s way of acknowledgement and our response to the calls to action of the TRC

As Butch Dick from the Songhees Nation reminded us, here we are on Songhees Nation unceded land.

UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses are also on the traditional, ancestral and unceded land of the Musqueam, Okanagan and Syilx peoples

We at UBC have begun the process of reconciliation and renewed relationships based on a more complete understanding of Canadian and Indigenous histories, mutual understanding and respect

Would like to touch on just two initiatives at UBC that aim to capture the long trajectory of Indigenous and Canadian relations and to ensure that one part of that, the history of Canada’s Indian residential schools, will never be forgotten.

First, on April 1 we will raise a Reconciliation Pole – which recognizes the complex aspects of reconciliation related to Canadian Indian residential schools. This 55-foot cedar pole was carved by James Hart, Haida master carver and hereditary chief.

The other initiative, the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, will help visitors understand the history and lasting effects of Indian residential schools once it opens later in 2017 as a context for thinking about contemporary relationships.

However, I recognize that we have a long way to go. I also recognize that other universities in western Canada are addressing the TRC calls to action in their own ways, reflecting their own histories, as Linc discusses in his research.

I would be interested in hearing about your progress in the question and answer part of my address. I’m sure we have much to learn from each other.

You will also have a session on innovation – the role of governments and universities

This is another topic in which I take a special interest – not only in my role as president of UBC, one of Canada’s most innovative universities, but also in my new role as chief advisor to the BC innovation network

Many of you here will be involved in the network.

Later this month, at the BCTECH Summit, we will hold a forum to identify current successes in talent development, cluster strengths and opportunities, and research-to-innovation models.

The forum will be a launch for further consultations and analysis with findings presented at #BCTECH 2018.

It is my hope that in working together to establish this network we will find new ways of collaborating and aligning ourselves.

For example, with closer ties, we can work more effectively to promote stronger linkages between the companies which depend on the availability of highly talented people, and the colleges, technical institutes and universities that are responsible for training and educating our students to take on those jobs.

We can work to create seamless, two-way channels between the innovation-driven industries who are trying to push the boundaries in their fields, and the institutions that have the facilities and the expertise to help them make it happen.

And we can identify new ways to align the interests and aspirations of our already established communities of technology leaders and conveners.

Much is already being done, of course. For example, the Surrey Innovation Boulevard is a partnership of health, business, higher education and government that is creating new health technologies to improve peoples’ lives through innovation in medical devices, independent living and digital health.

You will hear more about that this afternoon from Simon Fraser University’s Dr. Ryan D’Arcy, the research/scientific lead on that initiative.

Innovation Boulevard is just one of many amazing initiatives that are being developed or coming to fruition throughout Western Canada.

Innovation Boulevard a great example of collaboration – it involves governments, hospitals, health authorities and more.

This kind of collaboration is crucial if Canada is to keep pace and thrive in an increasingly competitive world.

We need to look for more opportunities to collaborate – to form clusters and even superclusters, which will include universities, industry, governments, hospitals and other bodies.

We need to ensure these innovation clusters are best positioned to compete globally.

We must identify opportunities for partnership and collaboration.

And we must identify focused investment opportunities to promote innovation clusters.

Conferences like this are just one way to develop the connections that will allow western Canadian higher ed institutions to thrive and contribute to Canada’s innovation success. But we must do much more to work together.

Finally, I would like to briefly touch on the future of higher education.

Your final session, tomorrow morning is called Evolving Higher Education: A Shifting Landscape

Again, this is something of great interest to me.

Higher education is at a crossroads – we are not immune to the Silicon Valley-inspired disruption that is occurring in many sectors of the economy

We need to plan for this disruption – evaluate our role in this time of change and how best to fill that role

Indeed, one of my first acts as president of UBC was to initiate a new strategic planning exercise

The new plan, UBC’s Next Century, builds on existing plan, Promise & Place

UBC – like all universities – needs to revisit its priorities and goals to reflect our changing world.

We now have an opportunity to set the course for the next 25 years, to take an outstanding university and make it even better.

Process just underway – During December and January, I invited the UBC community to share its initial thoughts via an online survey.

We have also established a Steering Committee, which will play a key role in this process. The committee is made up of UBC faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members.

If I may be allowed to brag, UBC has already achieved great things and we are recognized worldwide for the quality of our research, our innovative teaching, our international outlook and our community engagement.

In order to preserve and enhance that reputation, we need to make strategic investments in the people and initiatives that form our community. For those of you from UBC, you will have opportunities to participate in future engagement moments, beginning later this month.

In closing, I would like to congratulate my colleagues, Anji Redish and Helen Burt, who are hosting this conference, and their staffs, for putting together such a successful event